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If you have been experiencing neck pain and perhaps other symptoms that extend from your neck into your arms and even your hands, it’s possible you have a pinched nerve in your neck.

Nerves are specialized cells that transmit messages throughout your body. These messages are sent by nerve impulses carried between various parts of your body and your central nervous system — your brain and spinal cord. For example, when you decide to move your arm, your brain sends a message to the muscles in your arm through a nerve impulse so that your arm moves.

Pinched Nerve: What Is It?

A pinched nerve is a damaged or injured nerve. This damage can occur for of a variety of reasons, including compression, constriction, or overstretching of the nerve.

In the neck, pinched nerves are often the result of:

Herniated disks. When one of your cervical disks slips out of place, it can place pressure on a nerve in your neck.

Narrowing spinal space. Sometimes a condition called spinal stenosis, the narrowing of the space within your vertebrae (the bones that encase your spinal cord), can squeeze nerves in your neck.

Degeneration of disks. Age or other factors can cause the disks in your spine to degenerate. When this happens, your vertebrae can become compressed and pinch a nerve.

Bony growths. Bony growths in your neck that may result from degenerative disk disease or arthritis can place pressure on surrounding nerves.

Pinched Nerve: Symptoms and Diagnosis

Symptoms of a pinched nerve in your neck, all of which can extend down into your arms and all the way to your hands and fingers, include:

Pain that radiates from your neck

Numbness, burning, or a prickling sensation

Problems with sensation

Feeling weakness

If you suspect that you have a pinched nerve in your neck, it is important to consult with your doctor. Fortunately, most instances of a pinched nerve will resolve without treatment within three to six weeks. But some pinched nerves can lead to other, more serious conditions such as peripheral neuropathy, so it is a good idea to have a doctor evaluate you and monitor your recovery. Peripheral neuropathy is damage to nerves that exist outside the spinal cord and brain, and the numbness, burning, and prickling sensation caused by neuropathy may become permanent.

To diagnose a pinched nerve in your neck, your doctor will perform a physical exam and ask you about your symptoms. Your exam will likely involve manipulation of your neck to determine what positions cause you pain. An X-ray, computed tomography (CT) scan, and perhaps magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) may also be taken to give your doctor a better view of what is going on in your neck.

Pinched Nerve: Treatment Options

Treatment options for a pinched nerve include:

Rest. Your doctor will likely recommend that you rest your neck until your symptoms improve. This may involve using a cervical collar to help keep your neck still.

Medication. Anti-inflammatory drugs or other medications can help relieve the pain of a pinched nerve.

Physical therapy. In some cases, a physical therapist may help you perform heat or ice therapy, electrical stimulation, cervical traction, massage, and exercises to relieve some of your symptoms.

Surgery. In rare situations, neck surgery to relieve the pressure on your nerve may be necessary.

A pinched nerve is nothing to ignore — you certainly don’t want to risk nerve damage. While most pinched nerves resolve within a few weeks, be sure to let your doctor make the exact diagnosis and determine your course of treatment.